Planning for next year’s tour begins this summer and the application process is open to all girls. Five of the 27 girls who went on the tour also served as interns and worked the Independent Film Project of MN to create a video of their experience.

Ayele Agbobly, a high school senior in St. Paul, attended this year’s 13th tour. Here is Agbobly’s experience in her own words.

During spring break of 2013, girls from Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys went on the 13th annual Historically Black College and Universities tour to Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. We visited Hampton University, Norfolk State University, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Morgan State University and Howard University.

It was my first time going on this tour and I had an amazing time. It was an opportunity I never had before and probably won’t have again. It was great to see what colleges were outside of Minnesota and what they had to offer. I loved seeing these colleges so much that I will apply to Howard in the fall.

The girls on the tour were from all over Minnesota – from St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Rochester. Before the trip, we had monthly meetings throughout the school year so we could get to know each other and build a friendship ahead of time. That really helped on the long bus rides because we all got along and had a lot of fun and even made new memories.

The tour allowed us to see what opportunities we have and what other colleges have to offer. Going to college outside of state can be scary because you will be unfamiliar with the area and people, but that might be where you find the place you call home. For that reason, I tell everybody about the HBCU tour and I encourage them to go and see what is out there instead of settling for one college.

While on the tour, we participated in a service project at The Samaritan Women in (Baltimore City) Maryland. It is where women who have been victims of human trafficking go for help to restart their lives. Some of our girls worked in a greenhouse, while the rest of us loaded logs onto a truck. It was good giving back to the community, but it was also sad to see the reality of things.

I will definitely go on the HBCU tour again. It was such a good experience and I got to see all the beautiful campuses and I fell in love with one – Howard.